It was 3rd March 2009, a hot Friday afternoon. Finally a whole week of STYLO fashion shows, it was MODA and its schools of young designers turn. The Lake Gardens is abuzz with many aspiring fashion students and parents alike. Mass communications students aspiring to be the Wan Zaleha Radzi is seen busily preparing their TV speeches and cover story. They are the new generation of fashion Malaysia who will take the lead in terms of fashion statement.

This event finds MODA (Malaysian Official Designer’s Association), a  not for profit organization of Malaysia’s foremost fashion designers’, whose aegis is to  represent interests of designers and nurture the growth of the industry. On that note, MODA takes  the opportunity to organize a competition for young design students in order to develop the industry and its next generation. Under the leadership of Gillian Hung, MODA president, MODA is actively involved in various activities in the country to promote the development and growth of the fashion industry  and I have it from the inside that MODA is a much improved organization in promoting Malaysian designers.

12 finalist

The 12 finalists were: Alexis Saw, Andy Yap, Bryan Lee, Chong Chee Seng, Joe Chia, Julia Leong, Karen Liew, Michelle Shia, Mirian Omar, Ong Bee Lian, Ooi Xiang Mun and Rico Rinaldi. Below are the designers and their creation (click on the thumbnail pictures for a bigger view):

 

This year’s event judges were designers Sonny San, Edmund Ser, C Y Cheong, Datuk Bernard Chandran and Datuk Tom Abang Saufi. They judged 12 finalists from various fashion schools in Malaysia like Carven Academy of Fashion, Equator Academy of Arts, Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia Institute of Art, New Era College, Tunku Abdul Rahman College, University Technology Mara, SML Academy, Raffles Design Institute and IFTC.

winners

Andy Yap, Lim Kok Wing University  final year student emerged as victor, Michelle Shia from Carven Academy (1st runner up) and  Joe Chia from Raffles Institute Singapore (2nd runner up).

The winners, from left to right : Michelle Shia, Andy Yap and Joe Chia with their models

The criteria for selection was creativity, simplicity and commercial viability.

So were the winners a surprise? Not entirely , although my personal choice would have been Michelle Shia’s creations of jacket and shift top with hand pleated details  which she modestly said that she had help from friends, it was brilliant as far as I was concerned. From all three perspectives, she would have been my top choice. It was the  more mature collection of all  that I have seen. And yes, I  hope she will  be  a designer with her own brand one day, just so I can buy pieces like that and wear with great pride.

The victor Andy Yap said he only found his passion for fashion when he turned 16 years old . He who loves Paris also based his creations on Parisian model and muse to many designers, Kiki De Montparnasse, and true enough he had a woolen cape and loose unstructured jacket trimmed in faux fur, yes quite Parisian! Andy hopes to pursue his studies oversees after his finals and take  it from there when asked what would be his plans after winning the first prize worth RM5000.

The picture on the left is Andy with his best friend wearing a tutu dress, one of his creations for his college project.

Joe Chia, had his models wear stockings and balloons over their head, and his monochrome collection playing with details like PVC and cut was unique and different. Studying in Raffles Singapore, he hopes to work oversees, maybe in Europe  with a famous designer or design house before eventually starting his own label. His own outfit at the judging ceremony was interesting enough, he had on a long fringe bib which he fashioned himself from a t-shirt and a modified shrunken jacket and with the good looks of a Korean actor, he certainly embraces fashion wholeheartedly.His prize money of RM2000 would go  a little way in paying for his oversees experiential trip.

Other designers with a bit of dare that caught my eye was Rico Rinaldi, but as veteran fashion observer/writer Cheong Pin said, it was just a tad too Yves St Laurent perhaps for the judges…mayhaps…

MODA Young Designer 2008

Last year’s winner Joyce Wong (image on right), put up a spectacular show consisting of woven woolen strips and leather strips sewn as contours on her pieces (click on thumbnail pictures below).

 

And having watched one too many Project Runway, I am left wondering whether if it wasn’t a tad too homogenous in terms of the pieces by most participants  which were mostly in woolen materials ( Autumn Winter collection in Malaysia); most also showcased shorts and had  some sort of a  shoulder detail at some point. I left wondering what is the significance of winning the title and how is  it helpful to their careers. Would it not be better if their winning prizes channeled towards helping them build an actual career? Are we pushing the envelope enough?

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